1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wafer boat of the kind in which wafers are insertable for purposes of transporting the wafers.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Integrated circuits are often manufactured in and on silicon and other semiconductor wafers. Integrated circuit fabrication calls for transportation of wafers from one location to another. Wafers may be located in a batch in a wafer boat. The wafer boat typically includes a frame having left and right vertically extending, horizontally spaced supports, each having a plurality of slots above one another. The wafers, located in horizontal orientations, are horizontally insertable above one another with respective left edges of the wafers in respective ones of the slots of the left support and respective right edges of the wafers in respective ones of the slots of the right support.
Wafer boats are traditionally used for transporting wafers which are approximately 1 mm thick. Wafer boats are generally unsuitable for transporting thinner wafers, such as wafers resulting from a back-grind operation and having a thickness in the region of 0.12 mm. Such wafers may bend, causing them to become dislodged from the slots, to break, or to contact one another.